What are the primary components comprising a vast, diffuse nebula that serves as raw stellar material?
Answer
Primarily hydrogen and helium along with trace amounts of heavier elements
Nebulae, which function as the stellar nurseries for new stars and solar systems, are fundamentally composed of the lightest elements in the universe. The overwhelming majority of the mass within these expansive clouds consists of hydrogen and helium. Trace amounts of heavier elements, often created in previous stellar generations, are also present, providing the building blocks for future rocky planets, but hydrogen and helium dominate the overall mass budget of the initial diffuse cloud.
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